Thermal distortion minimized in machining center

New design improvements helped increase productivity by 20% in Mazak?s PFH-4800 horizontal machining center. The machine provides feedrates of up to 2362 in/min, 1.0G acceleration, a 1.5-second table index per 90° of rotation, a 2.2-second chip-to-chip time, and a 15,000-rpm spindle with 1.9-second acceleration.

During rapid feed or acceleration, machining accuracy can suffer with thermal expansion to an unprotected ballscrew. On the PFH-4800, coolant passes through the core of the ballscrew and around the spindle, preventing thermal displacement to allow high-accuracy machining over extended machine operation. A two-pallet shuttle system allows part loading to be performed while the spindle is cutting, allowing pallet-to-pallet change to occur in 5 seconds. The standard model uses a 40-hp spindle drive and the 15,000-rpm spindle has 123 ft-lb of torque. For superhigh-speed mold requirements, a 25,000-rpm spindle is available, and a 12,000-rpm spindle is offered for higher torque at 224 ft-lb.

The machining center offers a rigid Meehanite cast iron construction for vibration dampening, heat dissipating characteristics, and distortion minimization. Magazine capacity is 40 tools (with options for 80, 120, 160, 240, and 330) with a number 40 taper.

Mazak Corp., Florence, KY
(859) 342-1700; www.mazakusa.com